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Tomasz Dziubinski - Photography | all galleries >> MOROCCO 2010 & 2011 >> MOROCCO - PEOPLE, LIFESTYLE & CULTURE > Essaouira Fortress
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©2011 Tomasz Dziubinski

Essaouira Fortress

Essaouira, Morocco

The Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador) is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Essaouira (English pronunciation: /ˌɛsəˈwɪərə/; Arabic: الصويرة‎, Berber: M-ugadir) is a windy city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast. It was formerly known, by the 16th century Portuguese as Mogador or Mogadore. The Berber name means the wall, a reference to the fortress walls that originally enclosed the city.

The bay at Essaouira is partially sheltered by the island of Mogador, making it a peaceful harbor protected against strong marine winds. Essaouira has long been considered as one of the best anchorages of the Moroccan coast. Archaeological research shows that Essaouira has been occupied since prehistoric times. The Carthaginian navigator Hanno visited and established a trading post there in the 5th century BC. Around the end of the 1st century BCE or early 1st century CE, Juba II established a Tyrian purple factory, processing the murex and purpura shells found in the intertidal rocks at Essaouira and the Iles Purpuraires. This dye colored the purple stripe in Imperial Roman Senatorial togas.

The present city of Essaouira was only built during the 18th century. Mohammed III, wishing to reorient his kingdom towards the Atlantic for increased exchanges with European powers, chose Mogador as his key location. One of his objectives was to establish a harbour at the closest possible point from Marrakesh. The other was to cut off trade from Agadir in the south, which had been favouring political rival of Mohammed III, and the inhabitants of Agadir were forced to relocate to Essaouira. For 12 years, Mohammed III directed a French engineer, Théodore Cornut, and several other European architects and technicians, to build the fortress and city along modern lines.

Originally called "Souira", "The small fortress", the name then became "Es-Saouira", "The beautifully designed". Essaouira is an exceptional example of a late-18th-century fortified town, built according to the principles of contemporary European military architecture in a North African context. Since its foundation, it has been a major international trading seaport, linking Morocco and its Saharan hinterland with Europe and the rest of the world.

Nowadays Essaouira presents itself as a city full of culture: number of small art galleries are found all over the town. Since 1998, the Gnaoua Festival of World Music is held in Essaouira, normally in the last week of June. It brings together artists from all over the world. Although focussed on gnaoua music, it includes rock, jazz and reggae. Dubbed as the "Moroccan Woodstock" it lasts four days and attracts annually around 450,000 spectators.

Nikon D3
1/250s f/11.0 at 25.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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meekam tam04-Jan-2012 10:56
Beautiful Fortress,Tomasz! Enjoy reading the history of it. V
Nestor Derkach03-Jan-2012 18:48
Terrific composition with perspective to spare.
Love the rocky shore line, my kind of shore line scene , much character.
Vote
Vickie BROWN03-Jan-2012 18:18
Super perspective, great work, Tomasz! BV
Walter Otto Koenig03-Jan-2012 16:20
Great perspective in this well composed image. "V"
Chris Spracklen03-Jan-2012 15:29
Fantastic composition with greats depth and detail, Tomasz. *V*
Frank Landerville03-Jan-2012 14:46
Terrific expansive view of this historic site.
Barbara Read and Fred Schaad03-Jan-2012 14:42
That is a lot of guns. Great angle of view.
Milan Vogrin03-Jan-2012 11:29
Very nice, as always. V!
Guest 03-Jan-2012 10:47
Fabulous, and thanks for the info!
Sam_C03-Jan-2012 10:46
Excellent shot, great light! V++
Graeme03-Jan-2012 10:43
Excellent wide angle view of this scenic view, Tomasz. BV
rousselziak03-Jan-2012 10:35
Great shot ! -V-
waterfalls man03-Jan-2012 10:30
Great Shot V!!
Reykjavik Impressions / Stefán Ólafsson03-Jan-2012 10:15
Great scene and nice image. V